Many people think of Jesus as a wise teacher, a radical leader who lived and died oh-so-long-ago. But that’s not how the Bible talks about Jesus.

The Jesus we meet in the Scriptures isn’t a figure of the past, but Someone we meet in the present. The God who revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush is the same God who revealed himself through Jesus Christ and still reveals himself to us today.

God introduces himself to Moses as “I AM”— not “I was” or “I will be”, but “I AM”. Ours is a God who lives in the present tense. Jesus’ many “I AM” statements, found in John’s Gospel, let us know that the living, reigning Christ is present and powerful in our lives. Jesus is actively involved in all our joys and sorrows, successes and struggles each and every day.

Jesus Christ is the great “I AM’—the eternal and everlasting God — who can and will meet all of our deepest needs.